Washington State law requires assessors to appraise property at 100% of its "true and fair market value" in money according to the "highest and best use" of the property. That means the assessor must first know what similar properties are selling for, what it would cost to replace it, and what the current interest rates are for borrowing the money to buy or build properties like yours. There are three basic approaches to the valuation of real property:

Market or sales approach: comparison of a property with the characteristics of similar properties that have recently been sold.

Cost approach: estimate of the replacement cost of a structure and adjusting that estimate to account for depreciation.

Income approach: analysis of a property's value based on its capacity to generate revenue for the owner.

It is the amount of money that a willing and unobligated buyer is willing to pay a willing unobligated seller. In other words, it is the price most people would pay for your property in its present condition.

Yes. If you disagree with the value of your property, call the Assessor's Office phone number listed on your change of value notice and ask to talk to an appraiser. The appraiser will be glad to answer your questions and examine the valuation of the property. If you cannot come to an agreement, the appraiser will explain how to appeal with the Snohomish County Board of Equalization (BOE). You must file a completed petition with the BOE within 60 days of when the change of value notice was mailed or by July 1st, whichever is later. Appeal forms are available from the clerk of the board at 425-388-3407. The appeal process does not require an attorney, but you will need to present evidence that the assessor's value is incorrect.Read the appealing your property assessment document for more information.

Taxing authorities such as school districts, park districts, and city councils adopt their budgets and levy taxes to deliver the services that taxpayers want and authorize. Taxing authorities require money to provide those services. Property taxes are also used to pay for special voter-approved measures such as school maintenance and operation levies, bonds, and emergency medical levies.

If the assessed value of property within the city doubles to $1 billion, and the amount to be raised stays the same, the tax rate will be: $1 million/$1 billion = $1 per thousand dollars of A/V. Your taxes, if your home doubles in value, will still be $200: .001 x $200,000 = $200.

No, not unless the decrease in assessed value for a taxing district causes the taxing authority to exceed the statutory limit for its regular levy rate. Read examples in the examples of assessed value document.

Yes. The average 2016 tax rate in Snohomish County is about $11.31 per $1,000 of assessed valuation. Rates vary from area to area and from year to year, but multiplying the number of thousands of dollars of price or cost by $11.31 will provide a rough estimate of taxes. Tax rates ranged from a low of $8.0196 to a high of $14.7949 depending on where you live in the county.

Snohomish County updates all taxable real and personal property assessed values annually as of January 1 of each year. The next update will be mailed for most properties in June of 2016 and the assessment date will be as of January 1 of 2016. The 2016 assessments will be used to calculate property taxes owed in 2017. The dates are set by state law and apply when property values are decreasing and increasing.